Author: Margaret

Our latest newsletter is out now. Sorry it’s rather brief. Will have more to offer next time. There’s a meeting on Tuesday 8th November – Gospel Truth? Richard Layton plans to explore the origins of Biblical myths, in particular the earliest writings on Jesus (before the Four Gospels) which some scholars claim reveal that the Resurrection was celebrated as a spiritual event—not the physical event that later gospel writers claimed. For the...

Whatever your views about the outcome of the British EU referendum, you may like to know that English, Irish and Scottish Humanists are members of the European Humanist Federation, and this won’t change. Click here to find out more about it. The British Humanist Association has been neutral about EU membership but has published some Leave and Remain views on its website. Click here to read them.

Today is Sir David Attenborough’s 90th birthday. This is a quote from ‘Life on Earth’, included in a ‘Humanist Anthology’, available from the BHA. “Man’s passion to communicate and to receive communications seems as central to his success as a species as the fin was to the fish or the feather to the birds. We do not limit ourselves to our own acquaintances or even our own generation. Archaeologists labour to...

The UK is the only democratic country to have religious representation in its legislature as of right, which is absurd. Now that the Church of England has sanctioned its US branch because it supports equal marriage, there’s even more reason to boot the bishops out of the Lords. Sign this petition and write to your MP. The petition states: Remove Church of England Bishops from the House of Lords. With the...

December 10th is Human Rights Day, when The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948, is celebrated worldwide. Last year, the International Humanist and Ethical Union released its latest Freedom of Thought Report, while in Ipswich we contributed to a local celebration. The IHEU introduced its report as follows: The 2015 edition of the report documents how persecution of the non-religious...

Hope you’ll have a good time over the holiday. If you haven’t already done so, please consider the refugees struggling in the cold. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says they don’t have enough money to help as many as they’d like. Click here to go to their site.

Our November meeting, the day before Armistice Day, is about Atheism and War. Elisabeth Thomson will lead the discussion, using prose and poetry. You’re welcome to bring your favourites. To start you off, here’s Mark Twain’s scathing indictment of war and the patriotism and religious fervour that’s motivated too many. For details, see our events calendar. The War Prayer O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to...